Naval gunfire support was provided by HMS Avengers 4. 5-in gun. The Argentine force consisted of B Company of the 7th Infantry Regiment of the 10th Mechanized Infantry Brigade, the local Argentine commander was 34-year-old Major Carlos Carrizo Salvadores, the second-in-command of RI7. Marine Teniente de Navío Sergio Andrés Dachary had arrived at Mount Longdon in the preceding the battle. The young RI7 soldiers were not going to abandon their positions easily and they possessed fully automatic FN FAL rifles, FAP light machine guns and PAMS sub-machine guns, these weapons delivered more firepower than the British L1A1 rifle. They were also equipped with FN MAG7. 62mm general purpose machineguns, at their San Miguel del Monte training camp the 7th Regiment companies prepared for possible war against Chile and carried out some helicopter drills with the 601st Combat Aviation Battalion. Private Jorge Altieri in an interview after the war told how he trained hard with B Company, other guys were given FAP light machineguns – and others got PAMS. The main emphasis in shooting was making every bullet count, I was also shown how to use a bazooka, how to make and lay booby-traps, and how to navigate at night, and we went on helicopter drills, night and day attacks and ambushes. From 16 April to 11 June we fought, wed have soup with lentils, green peas and we would tell our officer, We cant tell the British soldiers to wait so that we could get better food and then start shooting. We werent properly fed prior to the fighting like we shouldve been, the experiences in Baldinis platoon varied from soldier to soldier. Sub-Lieutenant Baldini is accused of having handed out punishment to a number of conscripts for having abandoned their posts to go looking for food. They supplied themselves with whiskey from the pubs, but they weren’t prepared for war and they disappeared when things got serious. Alonso also claims the conscripts on Mount Longdon fought “without any type of leadership by our commanders, alonso admits he took no part in the fighting for he was evacuated during the daylight hours of 11 June, a victim of shell-shock during an artillery bombardment. The previous day, Private Carbone had also evacuated after he shot himself in his left thigh while inside his tent as is revealed in the book Two Sides of Hell. There are serious claims that false testimonies were used as evidence in accusing the Argentine officers and NCOs, there are some types of crimes that no state should allow to go unpunished, no matter how much time has passed, such as the crimes of the dictatorship. Last year Germany sentenced a 98-year-old corporal for his role in the camps in one of the Eastern European countries occupied by Nazi Germany. It didnt take into account his age or rank,3 PARA made a desperate march across the hills north of Mount Simon to seize the key piece of high ground above the settlement of Estancia, also known as Estancia House. The weather conditions were atrocious, with the Paras marching through steep slippery hillocks to the objective, Nick Rose was a private in 6 Platoon under Lieutenant Jonathan Shaw, The terrain dictated exactly how we advanced. A lot of the time if we were going along on tracks – what few we did go on – we used Indian file, which is staggered file on either side of the track, like a zig-zag
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